


An invitation with a rose attached

by Pierogis4days (orphan_account)



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Aliases, Heist fic, Juno is beautiful, M/M, No NSFW yet but we'll see I guess!, Peter almost chokes on his drink because Juno is so pretty, Unresolved Sexual Tension, delicious describtions of Junos looks, fancy party heist, for now at least, peter is in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-05 02:31:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17316401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Pierogis4days
Summary: This fic is dead and unfinished read at your own risk!!Juno hasn't seen Nureyev in over a month, but isn't really that surprised when he finds an invitation to a fancy party in his apartment, from no other than Duke Rose, adressed to his "dear wife" Dahlia. So he puts on the most glittery dress he had tucked into the back of his closet and goes out.





	1. Roses and glitter

**Author's Note:**

> Who else misses Peter Nureyev? I know I do. So here is some fresh Peter/Duke content from me to you!

The ballroom was huge. It was all bright lights and red carpets, walls covered with expensive paintings put in even more expensive, golden frames. Slow piano music was played live, and it could have even been relaxing if it wasn't drowned in the chatter of over hundred people that Juno had to squeeze through. 

He was far from relaxed. No, he was really fucking stressed. He was supposed to find Peter Nureyev in this room. They haven't seen each other in over a month. Juno didn't know how he would exactly look like, but he was informed that the thief would be attending as Duke Rose today, so he had a vague idea. Peter didn't give him much details, which was a pain in the ass. Juno was undercover as well, as his "darling wife" and knowing at least what was the purpouse of him being there would make embodying Dahlia Rose a lot easier.

The fact that he had to dress accordingly didn't help, either. A short note that he found in his apartment with a single rose attached had stated clearly what the dresscode was. Juno was wearing a long gown that was showing his shoulders and back, and with a slit so high up his thigh, he couldn't help but nervously tug on it to try and cover himself a little more. At least it had long sleaves. Juno didn't stand out much from the crowd, and soon he realised that compared to other people, his dress actually covered a lot more skin than their outfits did. 

He avoided getting near the dance floor and the stage where a beautiful, black piano towered above the dancing pairs. Instead he went straight for the bar. If Nureyev knew him well (and he did) he would know to expect Juno there. 

 

 

This party was big, but Peter has seen bigger. It really didn't make that much of an impression on him, and to be completely honest, he was getting quite bored. Three gentleman he had the "pleasure" to debate with for the last hour were starting to annoy him morbidly. He laughed to himself, pitying their absolutely rotten idea of justice or honor. The disdain towards those corrupt businessman was boiling in his veins like venom. Peter Nureyev hated politics, but not Duke Rose. Duke was absolutely delighted by his company, agreed passionately with everything those man said. They had what he wanted, and what he needed to do to sweep it from under their noses was for them to trust that Duke Rose was an easily manipulated idiot. So that's what he was for them right now. Telling them nothing less than exactly what they wanted to hear. 

Duke laughed at a completely tasteless joke one of them made like it was the funniest thing he's ever heard and Peter took a long sip of good wine to hide the twitch in his eyebrow he unintentionally made out of annoyance. And as he was taking that sip, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, the person he has been truly waiting for. And he choked on his drink and started coughing.

Juno looked absolutely stunning. The dress he was wearing sparkled with deep purples and reds, covered in glitter. The colors complimented his skin tone beautifully. It had long sleaves and the leangth of it was reaching the ground, but it bared his shoulders and his leg with a high slit on one side, which was just a perfect ammount of showing skin, that still was leaving a lot to imagination. Juno put his hand on his hip and Peter noticed that he painted his nails dark red to match. He had their fake wedding ring on his finger - they were "married", after all. Juno even had his makeup done as glamurously as the rest of the look. That beautiful shade of purple made his lips look... quite tempting. 

"Duke." Peter was brought back to reality by Junos harsh greeting.

"Dahlia!" He exclaimed, trying not to fall out of character again. Only Juno had the power to make him forget who he was supposed to be. "Gentleman, meet my dear wife."

They greeted Juno shortly and formally, and Peter took this chance to get out of the conversation he was having before. He put his glass away and reached out a hand towards Juno.

"My dearest, since you're finally here, we should dance at least once this evening. The music is just terrific, don't you think?" 

"Uh... sure." Juno took his hand after hesitating for a moment. 

"Marvelous! Now excuse me, gentleman," And he dragged Juno towards the dance floor. 

 

It seemed like Juno didn't really know where to put his hands, so Peter guided them gently to rest on his shoulders. He drew Juno closer by putting his own on detectives hips. They swayed slowly to the music along with many other pairs. 

God, he missed this. He didn't really have a chance to visit Mars in the last couple of weeks due to complications he encountered during his last heist. He did want to come back earlier, but it just wasn't safe for him then. He would never risk bringing his enemies to Junos doorstep when he knew his moves were being traced.

When they were this close, Peter could get a much better look at Juno, as he was looking up at him with those blue eyes. Spots of colorful light reflected on his skin from the dress, dancing on his neck as they were moving. It was so fine that Peter didn't notice it from the distance, but it looked like Juno used some kind of body glitter. It was really subtle, but gave his collarbones and shoulders a gorgeous, golden glow. Juno really did look like a goddess.

"I can not begin to describe how beautiful you look tonight. You took my breath away." He whispered in Junos ear.

"Yeah, I noticed. You almost choked to death back there" Juno chuckled. What a beautiful sound. "Erm, is this... is this Duke or Nureyev speaking though?" He asked after lowering his voice.

"I don't think any of my aliases would be able to ignore how delicious you look, so you could say that it's all of them or none of them at the same time, which can be described as... the latter."

"Well then, at least one person, or a couple hundred people if you count all your personas, are enjoying this... dress. Wish I could say the same."

"Is it uncomfortable?"

"Like hell. The glitter is so itchy, and this slit is too high up... ugh I want this thing off already."

"Mm, well, perhaps we can arrange that, but a little later. I have to ask you for a little favor first."


	2. Roses and glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Nureyev rarely makes mistakes. 
> 
> On the other hand Juno Steel, as far as he's concerned, could be called Juno "Failure" Steel and it wouldn't be a stretch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this one! It contains a description of Peters outfit, as requested! ;)

Juno was surprised by how natural it felt when they were dancing together. Peter was leading at first, but then Juno remembered who he was supposed to be right then and after a brief analysys of Dahlias character in his mind he decided that he should be the one guideing Duke. Peter didn't look surprised when Juno made them switch positions, but was glad that Juno came to that conclusion himself. It seemed like he was getting a hang of this. 

Acting wasn't Junos strongest suit. He was not good at hiding real emotions, ignoring the "Juno" thoughts and focusing on a made up character. But obviously this wasn't the first time they were going out somewhere as the Roses and the more he did it, the easier it got. He found that forgetting who he was for some time was quite comfortable, therapeutic even. Not having to worry about his past, his mistakes. Dahlia didn't have to dwell on that. 

Dahlia was competent... and sometimes even bossy. Juno wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was starting to enjoy the "bossy" part. Especially when Duke was following his guidence so eagerly, with such trust and praise in his eyes. Like he was some kind of goddess. Juno couldn't believe in that, but Dahlia could. 

They have been apart for so long and Peter just had to bring him all the way here, to a public place, where they couldn't have a proper greeting. And by "proper greeting" Juno meant "tearing Peters clothes off and fucking him into the mattress until they both pass out".

He pressed indecendly close to his partner for this kind of dance and this kind of music. Damn it, he looked so fucking good in that suit. It was perfectly fitted, black with dark red roses embroidered on the cuffs of the jacket and trimmed with silver strings. On his lips a matching burgundy lipstick and subtle eyeshadow complimenting his half closed, dark eyes.

He was a little disappointed when he felt a different cologne. Guess Duke likes more flowerey scents. 

"Darling," Duke reminded him gently. Right. Not the time. Juno let go of his hands and stepped away.

"Sorry. Go now, I'll make sure... you know."

"I promise you dear, I'll be back in twenty minutes. Have fun without me, won't you?" He smiled a joyful "Duke Rose" smile, showing off his sharp teeth. But then for a brief moment he got close again, very close, and it shifted into a familiar smirk. His fingers hovered around Junos jaw and he whispered, his mouth an inch from Junos:

"Don't be sorry. There will be time for that after I'm done. And that is a promise, from me to you, Juno."

And he placed a brief, small kiss on his mouth, the kind of careless kiss a husband would give his partner when heading to work on a busy morning, finishing up his coffee and putting on a coat before leaving.

And Juno was left there, on the dance floor, as if he forgot how to move his legs all of the sudden. He watched Peters back as it quickly disappeared in the crowd. 

Alright, Dahlia Rose. You have a really easy task to do. Don't fuck this up.

 

 

Eight minutes later, he fucked it up.

You had one job, Dahlia Rose. One job. Watch the guy. Don't let him leave the ballroom. Only a couple of minutes of simple people watching, something he has definitely done before, something that for a P.I. should feel like goddamn summer vacation.

And there he was, getting distracted by some lady that bumped into him, letting his guard down for half a second and the host of the party has vanished. They weren't even near the entrance doors, where the hell did they go? 

No time to think about that. The guy was out, which meant that Nureyev was in danger. So Juno had to either find them before they get to where Nureyev is, or find Nureyev before the host gets to him first. And since they seemed to have used some secret door to get out of the ballroom, it was likely that Juno wouldn't be able to find them. And that their secret corridors are a quicker way to get to their office room, where they will find a theif in a suit trying to open a complicated lock to their safe without making the alarm go off.  
So this was just great. 

Juno walked out of the room quickly, but careful not to get the guards suspicious. He felt for his gun he had holstered by his thigh that was covered by the dress. Still there, but not safe to pull out yet. The moment the door closed behind him he started running. Room 5.13. Peter told him the safe was in room 5.13. He kicked off his heels - it was impossible to run in those things. He didn't really want to leave them behind, but he couldn't risk breaking an ankle if there was a possibility of having to run from the cops in a couple of minutes.

Juno didn't want to start to panic, but he couldn't find the door with that number. He was getting a little breathless form running through the corridors. Maybe Peter forgot the number to the office door and gave him the wrong one? Yeah, right: Peter Nureyev, a man that memorised blueprints for entire buildings as a hobby, forgot a simple three digit number. Juno didn't buy that. So he went through the numbers again. 5.10.,5.11.,5.12.,5.14. ... Wait. 

5.13. was there all right. But Juno realised why he didn't even glance at it before and walked past it so many times. It was a door to a public bathroom. 

Maybe... maybe Nureyev did make a mistake. But, just to be sure, Juno drew his gun and kicked the door open, ready to shoot if necesarry. Yep, just a plain, empty bathroom. He cursed under his breath. Time was running short, and by now Nureyev could have been caught red handed, the cops could be on the way, or worse, he could be...

Why would he drag Juno to this party, on this heist, without telling him anything and leaving him unprepared? Didn't he consider a possibility that Juno could fail his part of the job? Once again Juno was reminded why people should never put their trust into him. Turns out Juno Steel can't do anything right even when he isn't Juno Steel. Dahlia Rose or not, there are some things you just can't suppress.

And then he heard something. A thump, glass breaking, a curse in some language he didn't understand. But the voice he recognized, how could he not, even if it was far away? He ran it it's direction, praying to whatever god would want to listen, that what he's going to see when he gets there is not like one of a thousand really bad scenarios his imagination was so kind to shove into his brain in that moment. 

He turned a corner and there he was, Peter Nureyev, kneeling on the floor with his back turned towards him. Shards of glass were scattered on the floor, shining in a puddle of red liquid that was spreading further and further. Besides the two of them the corridor was empty. Juno felt like he was going to faint for a second, his legs froze, couldn't move, but he managed to let out a shaky whisper: 

"Nureyev...!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a turn of events!
> 
> Remember, I need comments like I need air! :o

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Next chapter coming soon!


End file.
